Change Of Heart
by aimeemellark
Summary: When Katniss realises the attraction she has to Peeta from the beginning, how does it change the destiny of their roles in the rebellion? Can they win over President Snow and the rest of the Capitol, or will the Girl on Fire send Panem up in flames?
1. Prologue

"_The moment the anthem ends, we are taken into custody. I don't mean we're handcuffed or anything, but a group of Peacekeepers marches us through the front door of the Justice Building. Maybe tributes have tried to escape in the past. I've never seen that happen, but I wouldn't be surprised. Once inside, I'm conducted to a room and left alone. It's the richest place I've ever been in, with thick, deep carpets and a velvet couch and chairs. I know velvet because my mother has a dress with a collar made of the stuff. When I sit on the couch, I can't help running my fingers over the fabric repeatedly. It helps to calm me as I try to prepare for the next hour. The time allotted for the tributes to say goodbye to their loved ones. I cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with puffy eyes and a red nose. Crying is not an option. There will be more cameras at the train station."_

"_My sister and my mother come first. I reach out to Prim and she climbs on my lap, her arms around my neck, her head on my shoulder, just like she did when she was a toddler. My mother sits beside me and wraps her arms around us. For a few minutes, we say nothing. Then I start telling them all the things they must remember to do, now I will not be there to do them for them. Prim is not to take any tesserae. They can get by, if they're careful, on selling Prim's goat's milk and cheese and the small apothecary business my mother now runs for the people in the Seam. Gale will get her herbs she doesn't grow herself, but she must be very careful to describe them because he's not as familiar with them as I am. He'll also bring them game – he and I made a pact about this a year or so ago – and will probably not ask for compensation, but they should thank him with some kind of trade, like milk or medicine. "_

"_I don't bother suggesting Prim learns to hunt. I tried to teach her a couple of times and it was disastrous. The woods terrified her, and whenever I shot something, she'd get tear and talk about how we might be able to heal it if we got it home soon enough. But she does well with her goat, so I concentrate on that. When I am done with instructions about fuel, and trading, and staying in school, I turn to my mother and grip her arm, hard. 'Listen to me. Are you listening to me?' She nods, alarmed by my intensity. She must know what's coming. 'You can't leave again.' I say. _

_My mother's eyes find the floor. 'I know. I won't. I couldn't help what-' _

'_Well, you have to help this time. You can't clock out and leave Prim on her own. There's no me now to keep you both alive. It doesn't matter what happens. Whatever you see on the screen. You have to promise me you'll fight through it!' My voice has risen to a shout. In it is all the anger, all the fear I felt at her abandonment. _

_She pulls her arm from my grasp, moved to anger herself now. 'I was ill. I could have treated myself if I'd had the medicine I have now.' The part about her being ill might be true. I've seen her bring back people suffering from immobilizing sadness since. Perhaps it is a sickness, but it's one we can't afford. _

'_Then take it. And take care of her!' I say._

'_I'll be all right, Katniss,' says Prim, clasping my face in her hands. 'But you have to take care, too. You're so fast and brave. Maybe you can win.'" – _Chapter Three, Page 41-44; **The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.**


	2. No Time For Goodbye

**A/N:**

_I'm sure the Prologue seemed pretty familiar to most. It's taken from The Hunger Games book, not edited whatsoever. Not copywrited whatsoever, just there to set the scene. The rest is purely my own writing from now on._

'There's always that Peeta boy too. You two could form an alliance!' Prim cries out in excitement. 'You'd definitely win then!'

I can't win, even with the help from Peeta Mellark. Somewhere, deep down, Prim must already know this. She's just trying to give us both the false sense of hope we need. The competition will be far beyond both mine _and _Peeta's abilities. All the kids from the wealthier districts, in which winning is an honour have trained their whole lives for this. Boys who are two to three times my size. Girls who know twenty different ways to kill you with a knife. Oh, there'll be people like me too. People to weed out before the real fun begins.

'Maybe,' I whisper, because I can hardly tell my mother to carry on if I've already given up myself. Besides, it isn't in my nature to go down without a fight, even when things seem insurmountable. 'Then we'll be as rich as Haymitch.'

'I don't care if we're rich. I just want you to come home alive. You will try, won't you? Really, really try?' asks Prim, her eyes intensified, as if she's trying to figure out my thoughts. I nod at her quickly, as I can see she hasn't finished whatever she's got to say. 'I know about that Peeta boy. Make sure you follow your heart, but don't get yourself killed protecting him.' I give her a confused glance, covering up the thoughts circling my mind. We'd discussed him so many times; he was a regular concept in my head.

Mother turns her head abruptly as the door swings open and a Peacekeeper storms in, signalling the end of my final meeting with my mother and Prim. I turn to them both, tears threatening to leave my eyes. 'I love you. I love you both. Stay alive,' I stammer, loud enough for them to hear me, over the sound of Prim's sobs. I give them both a final squeeze as the Peacekeeper drags them out the door and slams it shut on me. And then I'm back to being alone again. I throw myself down on the couch, sighing deeply. Surely the only visitor left would be Gale, and then I could leave.

Someone else enters the room, and when I finally look up, I'm surprised to see it's the baker, Peeta Mellark's father. I can't believe he's come to visit me. After all, I'm sure he's aware that I'm going head to head in a brutal fight with 23 other kids, including his son, who I'll probably have to kill. But we do know each other, and he knows Prim even better. When she sells her goat's cheeses at the Hob, she puts two of them aside for him and he gives her a generous amount of bread in return.

The baker sits awkwardly on the edge of one of the plush chairs. He's a big, broad-shouldered man with burn scars from years at the ovens. He must have just said goodbye to his son. 'Did he send you?' I whisper to him, as he looks up at me, carefully. His face suddenly relaxes and his lips briefly pull into a friendly smile and he gives a sharp nod, before he realises where he is and where both Peeta and I are about to go.

'He told me to give you this,' the baker mutters, pulling a white paper bag from an inside pocket of his tattered jacket. He holds it out to me, but it takes me a while to retrieve it. I give him a puzzled look and he shrugs his shoulders as if to say he has no idea either. 'He loves you, you know.' He whispers, casually. From that moment, I realise what the baker has been sent to do, and a blush forms on my cheeks.

'No...' I croak; my voice rather hoarse. Then I can't think of anything to say, and neither can he, so we sit in silence, waiting for him to be collected. My thoughts wander off to Peeta. Could his father be telling me the truth? He wouldn't exactly lie to me when I'm about to die, would he? The Peacekeeper swings the door open, just as last time, summoning the baker. 'I'll watch the little girl, make sure she's eating.' He announces, waving his hand at me one last time before exiting out the door. My chest tightens and I inhale far too sharply. Maybe there will be enough fondness in the district to keep Prim alive after all.

The door swings open again and the next guest is also unexpected. Madge walks straight up to me, no emotional pauses. 'They allow you to wear one thing from your district in there, Katniss. Promise me you'll wear this?' She announces, and I can't tell if it's her asking me to, or her telling me that I have to. It's a golden pin, quite small and impossible to see from a distance. She's already pinning it to my dress before I can register what's going on. 'You _have _to wear this in the Arena. I'll explain everything when you get back!' She tells me, her eyes are darker than usual, her face unreadable. I nod once before she turns around and storms out. It's the strangest moment I've experienced, and the puzzlement overrides me right up until the last visitor enters.

Maybe there isn't anything romantic going on between me and Gale, but when he opens his arms for me, I don't hesitate to go into them. His body is rather familiar to me – the way it moves, the smell of wood smoke, even the sound of his heartbeat I know from quiet moments on a hunt – but this is the first time I really feel it, lean and hard-muscled against my own. 'Listen to me, Katniss.' He says. 'Get a knife, that should be pretty easy, but you _need _a bow to survive. With that, no one stands a chance.'

'They don't always provide us with bows,' I say, trying to count how many bows have actually been used in The Hunger Games in the past years. Not enough.

'Then you can make one,' says Gale. 'Even a weak bow is better than no bow at all.' My father used to make bows, but it was a very delicate process and a lot of the time, he even had to scrap his work. Without any of the right tools, I have no idea how I'm meant to make one. If it comes down to it, I'm going to have to stick with a knife. I glance up at Gale for a long moment, biting back my tears. 'Katniss, listen. It's just hunting. You're the best hunter I know,' he says.

'But Gale, it's not just hunting. They're armed, they think. They're not just going to run, they'll fight back!' I say.

'So do you. And you've had more practice. Real practice,' he says. 'You know how to kill.'

'Not people,' I whisper.

'How different could it be, really?' says Gale grimly. The awful thing about it is, if I can forget that they're human, it would be no different at all. The Peacekeeper returns too soon and Gale begs for extra time, but they're taking him away and I start to panic. 'Don't let them starve!' I cry out, clinging onto his hand.

'I won't! You know I won't! Katniss, remember, I –' he says, as they yank us apart and slam the door on me. I realise that I'll never know what it was that he wanted me to remember. I inhale deeply before setting myself down on the plush seat and pulling my knees up to my chest. Who knows how long I'll have to sit in here for. My thoughts wander off back to Peeta, the other tribute from my district, probably in the room next to mine. 'I have to help bring him home,' I whisper to myself. 'If I don't come home, _he _needs to.' I'm sure there's no chance that any other tribute would be able to help look after my family from their districts, but Peeta… Peeta had it in him to do what was right. He'd help Prim and my mother, more than anyone could ever expect of him.

**A/N:**

_Thanks for reading, please make sure to get your reviews in, good or bad. I'll make room for your improvements. There will be more, alot more and longer chapters too!_


	3. Leaving District 12

When the Peacekeepers finally retrieve me from the room, breaking my train of thoughts completely, they guide me to a strange looking vehicle. I'd never seen one before, they looked far too expensive for even the Victors, or just Haymitch in District 12's case, to be able to afford. There are more cameras than I can count surrounding the vehicle I'm told is a 'car' and I thank myself for not giving in and crying. Imagine how weak I'd look if I'd come out of the justice building with puffy eyes and a bright red nose. It wouldn't have done me any favours; all the others would have seen me as an easy target.

Effie Trinket is already seated in the front passenger seat of the car when I am flung into the backseat. I gasp in surprise as the impact with the leather winds me. I've never been thrown around as much as I have today. Peeta's already seated next to me and I can tell that, unlike myself, he's been unsuccessful at holding in the tears. His eyes, usually a beautifully bright shade of blue are dark and bloodshot. Regularly, he breathes in sharply through his nose, as if he has a cold. Peeta isn't ready for something like this; I can tell it's going to take him a while to kick himself into gear.

'Peeta,' I whisper, placing my palm on his shoulder. Honestly, he's more or less a stranger, but I can't help but feel as if I owe him some hospitality, especially after he saved my life with the bread. I'll never be able to pay back that debt to a good enough standard. Without that loaf of bread, I wouldn't have found the hope I needed to carry on. His head turns sharply, as if he's surprised and wasn't expecting me to communicate with him. I pull my lips up into a grin, and for the first time in a long time it's completely natural. He tries to smile back, but I can tell that it's forced. 'Things will get better,' I tell him, reassuringly, but it's a lie, and I'm sure he knows it.

'It's unlike you to want to talk,' Peeta tells me, the smile reappearing. 'Prim says-' I scowl at him for a long moment, and he stops completely, but we both know he's telling the truth. If it wasn't him here in the car, I'd probably be trying to avoid conversation completely, but unlike everyone else, because of our past, I really can trust him. He wouldn't have saved my life if he was indecent. He talks to Prim more than anyone else I know, they're close acquaintances. Friends even, maybe. She sells him and his father a set amount of her goat's cheese every so often and he gives her a generous amount of bread and sometimes even cakes in return, but they're an expensive luxury here in District 12, and it's the only time we ever get them.

'Your father visited me earlier,' I tell him, my hand sliding down his arm, until it's resting on the inside of his elbow joint. 'It was… unexpected.' Peeta bites his lip and tilts his head slightly, our eyes locked on each other's face and nods briefly.

'What did he talk to you about?' He interrogates, his eyes piercing and his expression unreadable. I can't tell what approach he has, and it's as if he's blocked off any chances of me being able to read his facial expressions, he's completely blank.

'He gave me these,' I tell him, showing him the paper bag that I'd received from Mr Mellark. The brief meeting still confused me, even now. I began wondering if I should tell Peeta about everything his father had told me. Peeta nods, giving me the prompt to carry on. 'He didn't talk much, he just sat there really. I didn't see the point.'

Peeta sits in silence for a long moment. I can tell that he sent his father, no matter how nice the baker was, he wouldn't have come to visit me on his own behalf. 'I sent him,' Peeta tells me, stating the obvious fact I'd come to terms with just under an hour ago. 'I was going to give you them after the reaping. But it didn't turn out so well.' We're still concentrating on each other's faces and I'm not sure whether or not to break the stare.

I can hardly find the words to speak and it takes a tremendous amount of effort for me to finally whisper, 'But… why?' I stare down at my lap, a confused expression covering my face. Why would he possibly want to give me a bag of expensive cookies? I was the one who owed him.

'It was a silly idea, I know, I just-' Peeta starts, shrugging to himself, but I interrupt him by placing my index finger on his lips. I shake my head twice and give him a quick smile before removing my finger from his lips. It was a kind gesture, why should he apologise for it? 'You should smile more often, it really does suit you.' He tells me, bringing his hand up to touch my cheek and I have to hide my grin by turning my head away. We slowly pull into the train station and again, there are far too many cameras for me to cope with. Peeta's eyes grow large when he realises just how many people there are outside and entwines his fingers through mine for moral support.

'Do we have to do this?' I whisper to Peeta, squeezing my eyes closed to calm my nerves. My question is answered when Peeta's door is thrown open by a Peacekeeper. They grab Peeta by the shoulder and drag him out of the car as if he were merely a rag doll. I cling to him as I follow him out the car and to the train. The Peacekeepers don't even bother to guide me to the train, and I'm pleased. Who could possibly enjoy being dragged around by these heavy-handed guards? We're forced to stand by the door of the train, the flashes of the Capitol cameras blinding us with every beam. Once we finally climb onto the train, the Peacekeepers are gone and we are left with no one but Effie to keep us company. The doors slam shut behind us and we leave the chaos behind. The train begins to move at once.


End file.
